Asymmetric membranes for use in nanofiltration

ABSTRACT

Improved integrally skinned asymmetric membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration, and their methods of preparation and use are disclosed. Membranes are formed from polybenzimidazoles by phase inversion and are then crosslinked by addition of crosslinking agents. These stabilise the membranes and allow solvent nanofiltration to be maintained even in the solvents from which the membranes were formed by phase inversion, and in strongly acidic and strongly basic solvents.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to asymmetric membranes fornanofiltration, particularly nanofiltration of solutes dissolved inorganic solvents, and particularly the nanofiltration of solutesdissolved in strongly basic and acidic organic solvent environments.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Membrane processes are well known in the art of separation science, andcan be applied to a range of separations of species of varying molecularweights in liquid and gas phases (see for example “Membrane Technologyand Applications” 2^(nd) Edition, R. W. Baker, John Wiley and Sons Ltd,ISBN 0-470-85445-6).

Nanofiltration is a membrane process utilising membranes whose pores aregenerally in the range 0.5-5 nm, and which have molecular weightcut-offs in the region of 200-2,000 Daltons. Molecular weight cut-off ofa membrane is generally defined as the molecular weight of a moleculethat would exhibit a rejection of 90% when subjected to nanofiltrationby the membrane. Nanofiltration has been widely applied to filtration ofaqueous fluids, but due to a lack of suitable solvent stable membraneshas not been widely applied to the separation of solutes in organicsolvents. This is despite the fact that organic solvent nanofiltration(OSN) has many potential applications in manufacturing industryincluding solvent exchange, catalyst recovery and recycling,purifications, and concentrations. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,174,899 5,215,667;5,288,818; 5,298,669 and 5,395,979 disclose the separation oforganometallic compounds and/or metal carbonyls from their solutions inorganic media. UK Patent No. GB2373743 describes the application of OSNto solvent exchange; UK Patent No. GB2369311 describes the applicationof OSN to recycle of phase transfer agents, and; EP1590361 describes theapplication of OSN to the separation of synthons during oligonucleotidesynthesis. However, there are no reports to date describing theapplication of OSN in strongly basic or acidic organic solventenvironments.

Polyimides have been used widely to form membranes used in separationprocesses, particularly gas separations, and also for separations ofliquids. U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,166 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,008 describeprocesses for the production of integrally skinned asymmetric polyimidemembranes. These membranes are prepared as flat sheet membranes on asupporting substrate using a phase inversion technique, which results inan ultra-thin top layer of the asymmetric membrane characterised by poresizes below 5 nm in diameter. After formation, the membranes are treatedwith a non-volatile conditioning agent dissolved in solvent. Theconditioning agent maintains membrane properties for nanofiltration oflow molecular weight solutes from organic solvents, and allows themembrane to be processed, stored and handled in a dry state. Theapplication of these membranes to solvent recovery from lube oilfiltrates are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,360,530; 5,494,566; and5,651,877. GB 2,437,519 reports membranes formed by phase inversion ofpolyimide solutions, followed by crosslinking of the resulting polyimidemembrane, and then treatment with a non-volatile conditioning agentdissolved in solvent. However integrally skinned polyimide membranesformed by phase inversion are not stable in all solvents, even whencrosslinked according to GB 2,437,519. In particular, they are notstable in strongly basic or acidic organic environments.

Polybenzimidazole membranes have been widely reported for use in gasseparations and processing of aqueous fluids. U.S. 3,699,038, U.S. Pat.No. 3,720,607, U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,492, U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,687 and U.S.Pat. No. 4,693,824 report the formation of integrally skinnedpolybenzimidizole membranes formed by phase inversion from a dopesolution. U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,402 reports the formation ofpolybenzimidzole membranes by phase inversion from a dope solution,followed by annealing at temperatures of at least 135° C. to improve thereverse osmosis performance of the membranes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,825reports the production of polybenzimidazole membranes from a dopesolution containing benzyl alcohol as an additive.

It has been reported that crosslinking of polybenzimidizole (PBI)membranes improves their chemical resistance. U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,996,U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,844, U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,466, and U.S. Pat. No.4,020,142 all disclose methods for the crosslinking PBI. However, thesemethods are known to lead to a dramatic increase in the brittleness ofthe membranes, making them difficult to manufacture and use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides asymmetric polybenzimidazolenanofiltration membranes which are particularly suitable for use inorganic solvents.

In a first aspect, the invention provides a membrane for nanofiltrationof a feed stream solution comprising a solvent and dissolved solutes andshowing preferential rejection of the solutes at ambient temperature,comprising an integrally skinned asymmetric polybenzimidazole membranewhich is impregnated with a conditioning agent.

In a particular embodiment, the polybenzimidazole is crosslinked so asto improve the chemical resistance of the membrane.

In yet a further aspect, the present invention provides the use of apolybenzimidazole membrane as defined herein for the nanofiltration of afeed stream, wherein the feed stream comprises a solvent which isstrongly acidic or strongly basic and/or the feed stream comprises oneor more strongly acidic or strongly basic compounds present in thesolvent.

In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method ofseparating dissolved solutes from a feed stream by nanofiltration, saidfeed stream comprising a solvent which is strongly acidic or stronglybasic and/or the feed stream comprises one or more strongly acidic orstrongly basic compounds present in the solvent; wherein said methodcomprises passing the feed through a polybenzimidazole membrane asdefined herein.

In another aspect, the invention provides a process for forming anintegrally skinned asymmetric polybenzimidazole membrane for solventnanofiltration, comprising the steps of:

(a) preparing a polybenzimidazole dope solution comprising:

-   -   (i) a polybenzimidazole polymer, and (ii) a solvent system for        said polybenzimidazole which is water miscible;        (b) casting a film of said dope solution onto a supporting        substrate;        (c) allowing the dope solution to evaporate over an evaporation        period and then immersing the film cast on the substrate into a        coagulating medium;        (d) optionally, treating the resulting asymmetric membrane with        a solvent comprising one or more crosslinking agents for        polybenzimidazole; and        (e) treating the asymmetric membrane with a wash bath or baths        comprising a conditioning agent.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a membrane obtainableby any one of the methods defined herein.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a membrane obtainedby any one of the methods defined herein.

In a further aspect the present invention provides a membrane directlyobtained by any one of the methods defined herein.

Membranes of the invention can be used for nanofiltration operations inorganic solvents. In particular, they can be used for nanofiltrationoperations in solvents in which the base polybenzimidazole is soluble.This is advantageous with respect to many of the prior art asymmetricsolvent nanofiltration membranes, which lose structure and dissolve intypical dope solvents such as dimethylacetimide (DMAc), and exhibit lowor no flux in some chlorinated solvents such as dichloromethane.Further, membranes of the present invention can be employed in a feedstream for nanofiltration in which the solvent is strongly acidic orbasic, or in which the feed stream contains components which arestrongly acidic or basic. This is advantageous with respect to the priorart asymmetric solvent nanofiltration membranes, which lose structureand dissolve under strongly acidic or basic conditions. Membranes of thepresent invention however are stable in these solvents, offeringacceptable flux and rejections. Yet a further advantage of the membranesof the present invention is that they may exhibit higher fluxes thanknown membranes when mixtures of water and organic solvent are beingprocessed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the intrinsic viscosity of synthesised polybenzimidazolemeasured in dimethylacetimide at 30° C.

FIG. 2 shows flux for various polybenzimidazole membranes at 30 bar witha nanofiltration feed stream comprising acetone as a solvent and withpolystyrene oligomers as solutes.

FIG. 3 shows flux and rejection data for various polybenzimidazolemembranes prepared from a dope solution containing 17 wt %polybenzimidazole at 30 bar with a nanofiltration feed stream comprisingacetone as a solvent and with polystyrene oligomers as solutes.

FIGS. 4( a) and 4(b) show flux and rejection data for a variouspolybenzimidazole membranes prepared from a dope solution containing 15wt % polybenzimidazole at 30 bar with a nanofiltration feed streamcomprising acetone as a solvent and with polystyrene oligomers assolutes.

FIG. 5 shows the flux and molecular weight cut off (MWCO) curves ofpolybenzimidazole membranes prepared from 15 and 17 wt % dope solutionswith DMAc as a solvent. Nanofiltration of a feed solution comprisingpolystyrene oligomers dissolved in THF has been performed at 30 bar and30° C.

FIG. 6 shows the flux and MWCO curves of polybenzimidazole membranesprepared from 15 and 17 wt % dope solutions with a mixture of DMAc:THFat a ratio 4:1 as a solvent. Nanofiltration of a feed solutioncomprising polystyrene oligomers dissolved in THF has been performed at30 bar and 30° C. (% R on the y-axis means % rejection).

FIG. 7 shows the flux and MWCO curves of polybenzimidazole membranesprepared from 15 and 17 wt % dope solutions with DMAc as a solvent.Nanofiltration of a feed solution comprising polystyrene oligomersdissolved in dichloromethane has been performed at 30 bar and 30° C.

FIG. 8 shows the flux and MWCO curves of polybenzimidazole membranesprepared from 15 and 17 wt % dope solutions with a mixture of DMAc:THFat a ratio 4:1 as a solvent. Nanofiltration of a feed solutioncomprising polystyrene oligomers dissolved in dichloromethane has beenperformed at 30 bar and 30° C. (% R on the y-axis means % rejection).

FIG. 9 shows the flux and MWCO curves of crosslinked polybenzimidazolemembranes prepared from 17 wt % dope solutions with a DMAc as a solvent.Nanofiltration of feed solutions comprising polystyrene oligomersdissolved in THF and DMF has been performed at 30 bar and 30° C. (% R onthe y-axis means % rejection).

FIG. 10 shows the flux versus time for crosslinked polybenzimidazolemembranes prepared from 17 wt % dope solutions with a DMAc as a solvent.Nanofiltration of feed solutions comprising polystyrene oligomersdissolved in DMF has been performed at 30 bar and 30° C.

DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

Asymmetric membranes will be familiar to one of skill in this art andinclude an entity composed of a dense ultra-thin top “skin” layer over athicker porous substructure of the same material, i.e. as beingintegrally skinned. Typically, the asymmetric membrane is supported on asuitable porous backing or support material.

Polybenzimidazole membranes of the invention can be produced from anumber of polybenzimidazole polymer sources. The identities of suchpolymers are presented in the prior art, including U.S. Pat. No.3,699,038, U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,607, U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,402, U.S. Pat.No. 3,841,492, U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,687, U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,824 and U.S.Pat. No. 4,693,825. Processes for producing suitable polybenzimidazolesare known to those skilled in the art and include those described inU.S. Pat. No. 2,895,948, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 26,065, U.S. Pat. No.3,313,783, U.S. Pat. No. 3,509,108, U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,389, U.S. Pat.No. 3,433,772, U.S. Pat. No. 3,408,336, U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,603, U.S.Pat. No. 3,708,439, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,154,919, 4,312,976, U.S. Pat. No.5,410,012, U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,715 and in the Journal of PolymerScience, Vol 50, pages 511-539 (1961).

A preferred class of polybenzimidazole polymer useful to prepare themembranes of the invention has the following general repeat structure Ishown below:

where R is a tetravalent aromatic nucleus, typically symmetricallysubstituted, with the nitrogen atoms forming the benzimidazole ringsbeing paired upon adjacent carbon atoms of the aromatic nucleus, and R¹is a divalent substituent selected from aliphatic, alicyclic andaromatic radicals.

Suitably, the R group in the general repeat structure I shown above hasthe structure shown below:

wherein Q is a direct bond between the adjacent rings or an alkylenelinker and * marks the point of attachment with the N atoms of the fusedimidazole rings.

In an embodiment, Q is a direct bond.

The R¹ substituents in the general repeat structure I can include (1) anaromatic ring, (2) an arylene group, (3) an alkylene group, (4) anarylene-ether group, and (5) a heterocyclic ring. A suitable example ofan aromatic ring is phenyl. A suitable example of an arylene group isphenylene. The term “alkylene group” includes (1-20C) alkylene groups.In an embodiment, an alkylene group is a (1-6C) alkylene group. Anarylene-ether group is suitably a group of the general formula III

wherein each Z¹ or Z² group is hydrogen or a hydrocarbyl substituentgroup (suitably a (1-6C) hydrocarbyl group. When R¹ is a heterocyclicring, it is suitably a saturated, unsaturated or partially saturatedmonocyclic or bicyclic ring containing 4 to 12 atoms of which 1, 2, 3 or4 ring atoms are chosen from nitrogen, sulphur or oxygen, which ring maybe carbon or nitrogen linked, wherein a —CH₂— group can optionally bereplaced by a —C(O)—; and wherein a ring nitrogen or sulphur atom isoptionally oxidised to form the N-oxide or S-oxide(s). Particularexamples of heterocyclic rings include pyridine, pyrazine, furan,quinoline, thiophene, or pyran.

A further preferred class of polybenzimidazole polymers useful toprepare the membranes of the invention has the following general repeatstructure II shown below:

Where Z is an aromatic nucleus having the nitrogen atoms forming thebenzimidazole ring paired upon adjacent carbon atoms of the aromaticnucleus. Further polybenzimidazoles useful in the invention are mixturesof polymers with structure I and polymers with structure II.

Suitably Z is a fused phenyl ring.

A preferred polybenzimidazole for forming the membranes of the inventionis poly(2,2′-[m-phenylene])-5,5′-bis-benzimidazole which has the formulashown below:

wherein n is an integer.

Suitably, n is an integer within the range of 10 to 5000, more typically20 to 3000 and even more typically 50 to 2000.

Membranes of the invention can be made by dissolving the desiredpolybenzimidazole polymer in a solvent together with optional viscosityenhancers, optional void suppressors, and optionally discrete particlesof an immiscible matrix, to give a viscous, polymer dope solution,spreading the solution upon a porous support to form a film, partiallyevaporating the solvent, and quenching the film in water. Thisprecipitates the polymer and forms an asymmetric membrane by the phaseinversion process.

The invention includes a process for forming an integrally skinnedasymmetric crosslinked polybenzimidazole solvent nanofiltrationmembrane, comprising the steps of:

(a) preparing a polybenzimidazole dope solution consisting essentiallyof:

-   -   (i) a polybenzimidazole polymer present in amounts of 5 to 30%        by weight of said dope solution,    -   (ii) a solvent system for said polybenzimidazole which is water        miscible,    -   (iii) optionally, a viscosity enhancer present in amounts less        than 5 wt % of said dope solution,    -   (iv) optionally, a void suppressor present in amounts of less        than 10% by weight of said dope solution,    -   (v) optionally, a surfactant present in amounts of less than 5%        by weight of said dope solution,    -   (vi) optionally, a discrete inorganic or organic matrix        suspended in the dope solution at an amount of less than 20% by        weight of the said dope solution;        (b) casting a film of said dope solution onto a supporting        substrate;        (c) allowing the dope solution to evaporate over an evaporation        period, and then immersing the film cast on the substrate into a        coagulating medium;        (d) optionally, treating the resulting asymmetric membrane with        a solvent comprising one or more crosslinking agents for        polybenzimidazole; and;        (e) treating the asymmetric membrane with a conditioning agent.

Optionally, the membranes may be dried as a further step (f) followingstep (e).

The polybenzimidazole polymer dope solution may be prepared bydissolving the polybenzimidazole polymer in one or a mixture of organicsolvents, including the following water-miscible solvents:N,N-dimethylacetamide, also referred to as DMAc, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone,hereinafter referred to as NMP, tetrahydrofuran, hereinafter referred toas THF, N,N-dimethylformamide, hereinafter referred to as DMF,dimethylsulfoxide, 1,4 dioxane, gamma.-butyrolactone, water, alcohols,ketones, and formamide.

The weight percent of the polybenzimidazole polymer in solution mayrange from 5% to 30% in the broadest sense, although a 12% to 20% rangeis preferable and 14% to 18% range is even more preferred.

Additives such as viscosity enhancers may be present in amounts up to10% by weight of the said polybenzimidazole polymer dope solution andthese include polyvinyl pyrrolidones, polyethylene glycols andurethanes. Additionally additives such as void suppressors may be usedin amounts up to 5% of the weight of said polybenzimidazole polymer dopesolution, including maleic acid. Additives such as surfactants, whichinfluence the pore structure, may be used in amounts up to 5% of theweight of said polybenzimidazole polymer dope solution, for exampleTriton X-100 (available from Sigma-Aldrich UK Ltd.(octylphenoxy-polyethoxyethanol)).

Organic or inorganic matrices in the form of powdered solids may bepresent at amounts up to 20 wt % of the said polymer dope solution.Carbon molecular sieve matrices can be prepared by pyrolysis of anysuitable material as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,802. Zeolites asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,900 may also be used as an inorganicmatrix. Metal oxides, such as titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and silicondioxide may be used, for example the materials available from EvonikDegussa AG (Germany) under their Aerosol and AdNano trademarks. Mixedmetal oxides such as mixtures of cerium, zirconium, and magnesium may beused. Preferred matrices will be particles less than 1.0 micron indiameter, preferably less than 0.1 microns in diameter, and preferablyless than 0.01 microns in diameter. In some cases it may be advantageousto disperse the matrices in a separate solution from the dope solution,preferably an organic solvent solution, and then subsequently add thissolution to the dope solution containing the polymer. In a preferredembodiment crystals or nanoparticles of an inorganic matrix, for examplezeolites or metal oxides, may be grown to a selected size in a separatesolution from the dope solution, and this dispersion solutionsubsequently added to the dope solution containing the polymer. Thisseparate solution may comprise water or an organic solvent withnanoparticles dispersed in the continuous liquid phase. In yet a furtherpreferred embodiment, the solvent in which the matrix is dispersed maybe volatile, and it may be removed from the dope solution prior tomembrane casting by evaporation.

Once the polybenzimidazole polymer is dissolved in the solvent systemdescribed, and optionally organic or inorganic matrices are added intothe dope solution so that the matrices are well dispersed, it is castonto a suitable porous support or substrate. The support can take theform of an inert porous material which does not hinder the passage ofpermeate through the membrane and does not react with the membranematerial, the casting solution, the gelation bath solvent, or thesolvents which the membrane will be permeating in use. Typical of suchinert supports are metal mesh, sintered metal, porous ceramic, sinteredglass, paper, porous nondissolved plastic, and woven or non-wovenmaterial. Preferably, the support material is a non-woven polymericmaterial, such as a polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene,polyetherether ketone (PEEK), polyphenyline sulphide (PPS),Ethylene-ChloroTriFluoroEthylene (Halar®ECTFE), or carbon fibrematerial.

Following the casting operation, a portion of the solvent may beevaporated under conditions sufficient to produce a dense, ultra-thin,top “skin” layer on the polybenzimidazole membrane. Typical evaporationconditions adequate for this purpose include exposure to air for aduration of less than 100 seconds, preferably less than 30 seconds. Inyet a further preferred embodiment, air is blown over the membranesurface at 15° C. to 25° C. for a duration of less than 30 seconds.

The coagulating or quenching medium may consist of water, alcohol,ketones or mixtures thereof, as well as additives such as surfactants,e.g., Triton® X-100 (available from Sigma-Aldrich UK Ltd(octylphenoxy-polyethoxyethanol)). The conditions for effectingcoagulation are well known to those skilled in the art.

The asymmetric polybenzimidazole membranes formed can be washedaccording to the following techniques. Typically a water-soluble organiccompound such as low molecular weight alcohols and ketones including butnot limited to methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, methylethylketone or mixtures thereof and blends with water can be used forremoving the residual casting solvent (e.g. DMAc) from the membrane.Alternatively the membrane may be washed with water. Removal of theresidual casting solvent may require successive wash blends in asequential solvent exchange process. Both membrane efficiency (soluterejection) and permeate flow rate can be enhanced by the proper solventexchange process.

Suitable crosslinking agents for treating the polybenzimidazole polymerdescribed in U.S. 4,666,996, U.S. 6,986,844, U.S. 4,734,466, and U.S.4,020,142, and all are incorporated herein. These includemultifunctional alkyl halides, divinyl sulfones, and strongpolyfunctional organic acids.

Multifunctional alkyl halides include those containing at least twohalide substituents, and with the general structure:

where X is Br or Cl, n is 1 to 11, a is 1 to 10, b is 0 to 4, and c is 0to 6. A preferred class of difunctional alkyl halides comprises straightchain, terminally di-substituted compounds having the structureX—(CH₂)_(n.)CH₂—X where X and n are as defined above. A most preferreddifunctional alkyl halide is dibromobutane (DBB). The alkyl halide mayalso contain three or more halide substituents. Exemplary alkyl halideswith three or more halide substituents include tribromopropane,trichloropropane, pentaerythrityl tetrabromide, and pentaerythrityltetrachloride.

Further suitable crosslinking agents include divinylsulfones with thegeneral formula:

wherein each of R₁-R₄ is the same or different and is selected from H orC₁-C₃ alkyl.

Strong polyfunctional organic acids suitable for use in the presentinvention include carboxylic acids, sulfonic acids, sulphuric acid orphosphoric acid. Representative examples are perfluoroglutaric acid,benzene hexacarboxylic acid, benzene pentacarboxylic acid,1,2,3,4-benzenetetracarboxylic acid, 1,2,3,5-benzenetetracarboxylicacid, 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid, 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylicacid, dibromosuccinic acid, polyacrylic acid,1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic acid, 2,6-naphthalenedisulfonic acid,aryl-sulfonic acids, aryl-sulfinic acids, aryl-phosphinic acids,aryl-phosphonic acids. Suitable solvents for crosslinkingpolybenzimidazole using strong polyfunctional organic acids are known tothose skilled in the art and include glacial acetic acid.

The crosslinking agent may be dissolved in a solvent to form acrosslinking solution. The solvent can be an organic solvent chosen fromketones, ethers, alcohols, acids or any solvent that dissolves thecrosslinking agent. In a preferred embodiment, the solvent in thecrosslinking solution will also swell the asymmetric membrane to allowgood penetration of the crosslinking agent into the membrane.

The solvent used to dissolve the alkyl halide should not react with thealkyl halide and should not dissolve the uncrosslinked PBI membrane.Preferred solvents include ketones, such as acetone, methyl isobutylketone (MIBK), methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), and pentanone; and ethers,such as isopropyl ether and butyl ether.

The solvent used to dissolved the divinylsufone may optionally alsocomprise a strong base catalyst, including alcohol metal hydroxides suchas sodium and potassium hydroxide, alcohol metal alkoxides having fromone to six alkyl carbon atoms such as sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide,and alkyl aryl amine hydroxides such as particularly preferred benzyltrimethyl ammonium hydroxide. The base catalyst is generally added inamounts ranging from about 5 percent to 150 percent based upon the totalweight of the divinylsulfone which is added. The preferred range isabout 25 to about 50 percent by weight.

The concentration of crosslinking agent in the crosslinking solution canbe adjusted with respect to the quantity of polybenzimidazole asymmetricmembrane to be added per volume of solution, in order to control theextent of crosslinking that takes place, so that the ratio betweenreactive groups in the crosslinking agent and polybenzimidazole aminehydrogen groups in the membrane treated is in the range 0.01 to 100,preferably in the range 0.01 to 10 and yet more preferably in the range0.1 to 5.

The time for crosslinking can be varied between 0.01 and 120 hours, morepreferably between 0.5 and 60 hours. The temperature of the crosslinkingcan be varied between 0° C. and the boiling point of the solvent,preferably between 0° C. and 150° C., yet more preferably between 50° C.and 120° C.

The asymmetric membrane is then conditioned by contacting the membranewith a conditioning agent dissolved in a solvent to impregnate themembrane. The conditioning agent is a low volatility organic liquid. Theconditioning agent may be chosen from synthetic oils (e.g., polyolefinicoils, silicone oils, polyalphaolefinic oils, polyisobutylene oils,synthetic wax isomerate oils, ester oils and alkyl aromatic oils),mineral oils (including solvent refined oils and hydroprocessed mineraloils and petroleum wax isomerate oils), vegetable fats and oils, higheralcohols (such as decanol, dodecanol, heptadecanol), glycerols, andglycols or derivatives thereof (such as polypropylene glycols,polyethylene glycols, polyalkylene glycols or derivatives thereof).Suitable solvents for dissolving the conditioning agent includealcohols, ketones, aromatics, hydrocarbons, or mixtures thereof. The useof a conditioning agent in accordance with the invention allows asuitable pore structure to be maintained in a dry state, and produces aflat sheet membrane with improved flexibility and handlingcharacteristics. Prior to use, the conditioning agent must be flushedfrom the membrane, i.e. the conditioning agent of this invention servesthe purpose of maintaining the desired membrane structure to preservethe performance characteristics when the membrane is in the dry state,and it is not a component of the functional membrane when used for thepurpose of solvent nanofiltration. This contrasts the conditioningagents of the present invention from agents that become part of thefunctional membrane.

Following treatment with the conditioning agent, the membrane istypically dried in air at ambient conditions to remove residual solvent.

Heat treatment may also be used to increase the membrane rejection ofsolutes. After the conditioning step, the membrane may be heated tobetween 150° C. and 300° C. for between 1 minute and 2 hours.

Membranes of the invention can be used for nanofiltration operations,particularly in organic solvents. By the term “nanofiltration” it ismeant a membrane process which will allow the passage of solvents whileretarding the passage of larger solute molecules, when a pressuregradient is applied across the membrane. This may be defined in terms ofmembrane rejection R_(i), a common measure known by those skilled in theart and defined as:

$\begin{matrix}{R_{i} = {\left( {1 - \frac{C_{Pi}}{C_{Ri}}} \right) \times 100\%}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

where C_(P,i)=concentration of species i in the permeate, permeate beingthe liquid which has passed through the membrane, andC_(R,i)=concentration of species i in the retentate, retentate being theliquid which has not passed through the membrane. It will be appreciatedthat a membrane is selectively permeable for a species i if R_(i)>0. Itis well understood by those skilled in the art that nanofiltration is aprocess in which at least one solute molecule i with a molecular weightin the range 200-2,000 g mol⁻¹ is retained at the surface of themembrane over at least one solvent, so that R_(i)>0. Typical appliedpressures in nanofiltration range from 5 bar to 50 bar.

The term “solvent” will be well understood by the average skilled readerand includes an organic or aqueous liquid with molecular weight lessthan 300 Daltons. It is understood that the term solvent also includes amixture of solvents.

By way of non-limiting example, solvents include aromatics, alkanes,ketones, glycols, chlorinated solvents, esters, ethers, amines,nitriles, aldehydes, phenols, amides, carboxylic acids, alcohols,furans, and dipolar aprotic solvents, water, and mixtures thereof.

By way of non-limiting example, specific examples of solvents includetoluene, xylene, benzene, styrene, anisole, chlorobenzene,dichlorobenzene, chloroform, dichloromethane, dichloroethane, methylacetate, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, methyl ether ketone (MEK), methyliso butyl ketone (MIBK), acetone, ethylene glycols, ethanol, methanol,propanol, butanol, hexane, cyclohexane, dimethoxyethane, methyl tertbutyl ether (MTBE), diethyl ether, adiponitrile, N,N dimethylformamide,dimethylsulfoxide, N,N dimethylacetamide, dioxane, nitromethane,nitrobenzene, pyridine, carbon disulfide, tetrahydrofuran,methyltetrahydrofuran, N-methyl pyrrolidone, acetonitrile, water, andmixtures thereof.

The membranes of the present invention are particularly suited tonanofiltration operations in which the solvent is strongly acidic orbasic, or in which the feed stream contains components which arestrongly acidic or basic.

The term “strongly acidic” is used herein to refer to a compound whichhas a pKa of less than 5. The term “strongly basic” is used herein torefer to a compound which has a pKa of greater than 9. The stronglyacidic or basic compound may be a solvent and/or a compound dissolved ina solvent.

By way of non-limiting example, specific strongly basic solvents includeamines, in particular alkanolamines, alkyl amines, and polyamines, suchas alkyl diamines, alkyl triamines, piperidine and derivatives includingalkylated piperidine, pyridine and alkyl pyridines including alkyl,dialkyl and trialkyl pyridines, and including and including ethyl amine,ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetramine,monomethylamine, mimethylamine trimethylamine, monoethylamine,diethylamine, triethylamine, isopropylamine, diisopropylamine,mono-n-propylamine, di-n-propylamine , tri-n-propylamine,di-n-butylamine, tri-n-butylamine, cyclohexylamine, dicyclohexylamine,dimethylc yclohexyl amine, pentamethyldiethylenetriamine,pentamethyldipropylenetriamine, tetramethyldipropylenetriamine,,benzyldimethylamine, tetramethylbis(aminoethyl)ether,N,N-dimethyl-2(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol, 3-amino propanol,N-ethylmethylamine, 2-ethoxy ethylamine N,N-diethylhydroxylamine,N-ethyl-N-(1,2-dimethylpropyl)amine, diisopropylmethylamine,2-ethylhexylamine, dimethylbutyl amine, 3-methoxypropylamine,3-(2-ethylhexoxy)-1-propylamine, methylaminopropylamine,dimethylaminopropylamine, methoxypropylamine, 3-ethoxy propylamine,N,N-diisopropylethylamine, dimethylisopropyl amine,bis-2-ethylhexylamine, diethylmethylamine, N-methylisopropylamine,dibenzyl hydroxyl amine, monoethanolamine, diethanolamine,triethanolamine, dimethylethanolamine, N-methyldiethanolamine,monomethylethanolamine, 2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol, polyoxyalkyleneamines,monopropanol amines, morpholine;, N-methylmorpholine, N-ethylmorpholine,N-methylmorpholine oxide, aminopropylmorpholine, quinoline, andsolutions of alcohol metal alkoxides having from one to six alkyl carbonatoms such as sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, and alkyl aryl aminehydroxides such as particularly preferred benzyl trimethyl ammoniumhydroxide.

By way of non-limiting example, specific strongly acidic solventsinclude carboxylic acids and their derivatives, incorporatingtrifluoroacetic acid and acetic acid.

Solvent can be understood to mean solvents, acidic solvents or basicsolvents and mixtures thereof.

The term “solute” will be well understood by the average skilled readerand includes an organic molecule present in a liquid solution comprisinga solvent and at least one solute molecule such that the weight fractionof the solute in the liquid is less than the weight fraction of thesolvent, and where the molecular weight of the solute is at least 20 gmol⁻¹ higher than that of the solvent.

The membrane of the present invention can be configured in accordancewith any of the designs known to those skilled in the art, such asspiral wound, plate and frame, shell and tube, and derivative designsthereof.

The following Examples illustrate the invention.

In Examples 1-4, a laboratory scale cross-flow nanofiltration unit wasused with 4 cross flow cells. Membrane discs, of active area 14 cm²,were cut out from flat sheets and placed into 4 cross flow cells inseries. A feed solution consisting of <1 wt % of test solutes wascharged into a 5 L feed tank and re-circulated at a flow rate of 1.5 Lmin⁻¹ using a diaphragm pump (Hydra-Cell, Wanner, USA). Pressure in thecells was generated using a backpressure regulator which was locateddown-stream of a pressure gauge. The pressure drop across the 4 cellswas measured to be less than 0.5 bar. The re-circulating liquid was keptat 30° C. by a heat exchanger. During start-up, the conditioning agentwas removed by re-circulating pure solvent for an hour without applyingany pressure and discarding the initial permeate. During operation,permeate samples were collected from individual sampling ports for eachcross-flow cell and the retentate sample was taken from the feed tank.Pre-conditioning of the membranes was necessary to reduce the effects ofcompaction to achieve steady state fluxes and rejections. The solventflux N_(v) was calculated from the equation:

$\begin{matrix}{N_{v} = \frac{V}{At}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

Where V=volume of a liquid sample collected from the permeate streamfrom a specific cross-flow cell, t=time over which the liquid sample iscollected, A=membrane area.

A feed solution consisting of a homologous series of styrene oligomerswas used to obtain the MWCO curve during nanofiltration with polystyrenesolutes. The styrene oligomer mixture contained a mixture of 1 g ofPS580 and PS1050 (purchased from Polymer Labs, UK) and 0.1 g ofα-methylstyrene dimer (purchased from Sigma Aldrich, UK). The styreneoligomers were all fully soluble in the tested solvents at thisconcentration

EXAMPLE 1

Polybenzimidazole polymer was synthesised as follows.

625 gm of Polyphosporic acid (PPA) was weighted in a 1 liter 3 neckround bottom flask at room temperature followed by the fixing of flaskto the overhead stirring assembly equipped with oil bath. The oil washeated to 155° C., at around 125° C. the addition of tetra-amine wasstarted under the constant flow of dry nitrogen. The addition was veryslow in such a way that it lasted for more than 15 minutes. After thecompletion of tetraamine addition the temperature was further raised to170° C. and kept constant for 45 minutes flowed by diacid addition. Thereaction was further kept stiffing for next 4 hrs at 170° C. After 4 hrsthe reaction temperature was further raised to 210° C. for next 2.5 hrsfollowed by 230° C. for 2 hrs. At the end of reaction the viscouspolymer solution was poured in large excess of water in the form of finecontinuous fiber.

The crude PBI fibers were crushed in to fine pieces and furtherprocessed with sodium bicarbonate solution to neutralise the phosphoricacid. The fine chopped fibers were crushed in mixture to make finepowder. The fine powder of the polymer was washed further with waterfollowed by acetone and dried in vacuum oven overnight. The dry polymerwas further purified by dissolving the polymer in hot dimethylacetamide(DMAc) followed by centrifuge and precipitation in large excess ofwater. The precipitated polymer was washed with water for 3 times andcrushed in to fine powder. The fine powder of the polymer was soakedinto acetone to replace water absorbed in the polymer followed by dryingin vacuum oven at 120° C. overnight.

The polymer which had been synthesised was characterised as follows:

The synthesised PBI was characterised by GPC for molecular weightdetermination, as shown below in Table 1:

TABLE 1 Polydispersity Entry No. % yield Mw Mn (Mw/Mn) IV (dl · g-1)**Batch 1* 93 324889 190578 1.7 1.08The intrinsic viscosity of the polymer was determined by the dilutesolution method using DMAc as a solvent at 30° C., and is shown in FIG.1.

Membranes were fabricated from the polybenzimidazole polymer as follows:

Membranes were formed using the prepared polymer. The dope solutioncomposition was as given in Table 2. The high molecular weight of thestarting polymer limited the dope solution concentration to 15 wt.-17 wt% % of polymer. The weighed quantity of the DMAc was taken in flask andheated to 80° C. first, once the temperature of the solvent attaineddesired temperature the purified polymer was added to the flask. Thedissolution of the polymer at high temperature resulted in a highlyviscous polymer solution without any residue. After the completedissolution of the polymer the heating was removed to cool the dopesolution. Once the dope solution was cooled it was transferred to a 50ml centrifuge tube to centrifuge the dope solution at 7000 rpm for 30minutes. The dope solution was allowed to stand overnight to allowdisengagement of any air bubbles. The details of membrane castingconditions are also given in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Volatile non- Solvent/non- Evaporation Entry Polymer Solventsolvent solvent time No. (Wt. %) used used ratio (Sec) Membrane code 117 DMAc —   1/0 60 17PBI-1/0-0-UX-0-Mem.1 2 17 DMAc THF 4.09/1 6017PBI-4.09/1-0-UX-0-Mem.1 3 15 DMAc —   1/0 60 15PBI-1/0-0-UX-0-Mem.2 415 DMAc THF 4.09/1 60 15PBI-4.09/1-0-UX-0-Mem.1

The coding used to designate the membranes were as follows, i.e15PBI-1/0-0-UX-0 stands for

Polymer Solvent/Non- Annealing UX-uncrosslinked Temperature used Wt. %solvent ratio Temp. X-crosslinked crosslinking (° C.)

The dope solution was used to cast films 250 μm thick on a polypropylenebacking material using an adjustable casting knife on an automatic filmapplicator (Braive Instruments). Solvent was allowed to evaporate fromthe surface of the film at controlled time intervals after which thefilm was immersed, parallel to the surface, into a precipitation waterbath at room temperature. The membranes were subsequently immersed insolvent exchange baths of isopropanol, to remove residual DMAc andwater. Following this, the membrane was immersed into a bath ofIPA/polyethylene glycol 400 (40/60, v/v %) to prevent drying out. Themembranes were then air dried to remove excess solvent.

The membranes were then tested for flux and rejection in crossflownanofiltration. The data from these tests are shown in FIGS. 2-8.

EXAMPLE 2

Membranes were formed as in Example 1 above and then crosslinked asfollows.

The membranes were immersed into a bath of methyl isobutyl ketone andcrosslinker (dibromobutane) for 12 hrs. at 60° C. temperature. Themembrane was then removed from the crosslinking bath and washed with IPAto remove any residual crosslinker. Following this, the membrane wasimmersed into a bath of IPA/polyethylene glycol 400 (40/60, v/v %) toprevent drying out. The membranes were then air dried to remove excesssolvent. The dried membrane was fixed to the glass plate with the helpof PVC tape and heated in oven at 100° C. for 1 hr.

These crosslinked membranes were then tested for flux and rejection asdescribed above. The data from these tests is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

EXAMPLE 3

Crosslinked polybenzimidazole membranes were prepared as per Example 3and were immersed into undiluted solutions of monoethanolamine andtrifluoroacetic acid and held at 30° C. The membranes were monitored forstability over 4 weeks. No change in the membranes appearance orproperties was observed.

EXAMPLE 4

Crosslinked polybenzimidazole membranes were prepared as per Example 2.These were used to test nanofiltration of a solution containing aphotoresist material supplied by TOKYO OHKA KOGYO EUROPE B.V cataloguenumber TFR 970 dissolved at 1 g L⁻¹ in a mixture of Butyl diglycol:Monoethanolamine:Water (60:20:20). The membranes showed a positiverejection for the Photoresist (PR) as shown in Table 3 below:

TABLE 3 Performance evaluation of crosslinked PBI membranes forseparation of PR in BDG:MEA:Water Entry Flux at 4 hrs PR rejection NoMembrane used (lm⁻²h⁻¹) (%) MWCO* 1 PBI-15-Crosslinked   15 (at day 3)  70 (at day 3) 395 (YB) 2 PBI-17-Crosslinked 10.5 (at day 1) 85.2 (atday 1) 236 (YB) *MWCO of the membrane based on standard PS rejectionanalysis after 24 hrs of filtration

What is claimed is:
 1. A membrane for nanofiltration of a feed streamsolution comprising a solvent and dissolved solutes and showingpreferential rejection of the solutes at ambient temperature, comprisingan integrally skinned asymmetric polybenzimidazole membrane, wherein themembrane is impregnated with a conditioning agent that maintains thepore structure of the membrane prior to its use for nanofiltration.
 2. Amembrane according to claim 1 in which the polybenzimidazole membrane iscrosslinked.
 3. (canceled)
 4. (canceled)
 5. The membrane according toclaim 1, wherein the polybenzimidazole membrane comprises apolybenzimidazole polymer of the following formula:


6. A membrane according to claim 2, wherein a discrete organic matrix isdispersed in the crosslinked polybenzimidazole asymmetric membrane atamounts up to 50% by weight of said membrane.
 7. A membrane according toan claim 2, wherein a discrete inorganic matrix is dispersed in thecrosslinked polybenzimidazole asymmetric membrane at amounts up to 50%by weight of a dope solution.
 8. A membrane according to claim 6,wherein the average particle size of the discrete matrix is less than0.1 micron.
 9. (canceled)
 10. A membrane according to claim 1, whereinthe membrane comprises crosslinks formed from the reaction ofpolybenzimidazole with dibromobutane, tribromopropane, trichloropropane,pentaerythrityl tetrabromide, pentaerythrityl tetrachloride, divinylsulfones, perfluoroglutaric acid, benzene hexacarboxylic acid, benzenepentacarboxylic acid, 1,2,3,4-benzenetetracarboxylic acid,1,2,3,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid, 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylicacid, 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, dibromosuccinic acid, polyacrylicacid, 1,4,5,8-naphthalenetetracarboxylic acid, 2,6-naphthalenedisulfonicacid, aryl-sulfonic acids, aryl-sulfinic acids, aryl-phosphinic acids,aryl-phosphonic acids.
 11. (canceled)
 12. (canceled)
 13. Use of themembrane according to claim 1 for nanofiltration of a feed streamsolution comprising a solvent and dissolved solutes.
 14. (canceled) 15.(canceled)
 16. A process for forming an integrally skinned asymmetriccrosslinked polybenzimidazole membrane for solvent nanofiltration, saidprocess comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a polybenzimidazole dopesolution comprising: (i) a polybenzimidazole polymer, and (ii) a solventsystem for said polybenzimidazole which is water miscible; (b) casting afilm of said dope solution onto a supporting substrate; (c) allowing thedope solution to evaporate for an evaporation period, and then immersingthe film cast on the substrate into a coagulating medium; (d) treatingthe resulting asymmetric membrane with a solvent comprising one or moreof a multifunctional alkyl halide, a divinyl sulfone, a strongpolyfunctional organic acid; and (e) treating the asymmetric membranewith a conditioning agent.
 17. A process according to claim 16, whereinthe polybenzimidazole polymer is present in amounts of 5 to 30% byweight of said dope solution.
 18. (canceled)
 19. A process according toclaim 16, further comprising step (f) drying the membrane.
 20. A processaccording to claim 16, wherein the process further comprises a step ofheating the membrane to about 150° C. or higher.
 21. A process accordingto claim 16, wherein the polybenzimidazole has the following formula:


22. (canceled)
 23. A process according to claim 16, wherein thepolybenzimidazole dope solution further comprises a viscosity enhancerin amounts of up to 10% by weight of said dope solution.
 24. (canceled)25. A process according to claim 16, wherein the polybenzimidazole dopesolution further comprises a void suppressor used in amounts up to 5% ofthe weight of said polybenzimidazole dope solution.
 26. A processaccording to claim 16, wherein the polybenzimidazole dope solutionfurther comprises a discrete organic matrix dispersed in thepolybenzimidazole dope solution at amounts up to 20% by weight of saiddope solution. 27-29. (canceled)
 30. A process according to claim 16 inwhich the solvent used to disperse the discrete matrix is removed fromthe polybenzimidazole dope solution by evaporation.
 31. A processaccording to claim 16 in which the crosslinking agent is selected fromthe group consisting of multifunctional alkyl halides, divinyl sulfones,and strong polyfunctional organic acids. 32-37. (canceled)
 38. A processaccording to claim 16 in which the temperature of crosslinking solutionis held between 20 and 150° C.
 39. (canceled)
 40. A process according toclaim 16 wherein the conditioning agent is selected from one or more ofsynthetic oils mineral oils, vegetable fats and oils, higher alcohols,glycerols, and glycols.
 41. (canceled)